ULM drops women’s tennis amid athletic department financial constraints

MONROE, La. — The women’s tennis program at Louisiana-Monroe has been disbanded because of financial constraints at the university’s athletic department.

Athletics Director John Hartwell announced this week that the decision stemmed from “increased operational and infrastructure costs” and will help ULM athletics “to continue progress towards balancing its budget” while maintaining an NCAA-required minimum of 16 NCAA Division I sports.

The move comes after NCAA rule changes, which take effect this fall, eliminated scholarship limits on specific sports. The scholarship caps are replaced with roster limits, and schools now may fund scholarships for every roster spot — as long as they maintain equal scholarship opportunities for men and women as required under Title IX.

As women’s tennis athletes graduate or transfer from ULM, scholarship funds that had been dedicated to them will be redirected to other remaining women’s sports teams at the university, Hartwell’s announcement said.

While the number of women’s athletic scholarships funded by ULM won’t change, its athletic department will save on all other expenses — from coaches’ salaries to travel, equipment and facility costs — associated with the tennis program.

The university did not offer specific estimates on what those savings might be.

“Discontinuing a sport is never an easy decision, nor one that we take lightly,” Hartwell said. “We know this is tough for our student-athletes and our coaches, who have poured so much into our tennis program.”

Hartwell said ULM will honor the scholarships of those who want to complete their degrees without transferring elsewhere. He said his administration also will help those tennis players who want to continue to compete to pursue opportunities at other schools.

“We will prioritize as smooth a transition as possible for our student-athletes,” Hartwell said.

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